Los Angeles daily herald., 1887-01-01

generally alu, despite vat degree Of supsr-
snnuated bosh to the contrary. To the hak
dozen women who are startled by sheer ~
dacity into submission there are scores who
arc piqued by selfsrespectful patience; and
where a woman has to do half the wooing,
she generally makes pretty sure thing Of it
In his bewilderment Thatcher had over
looked letter lying on his table It was
from his Washington lawyer. The conclud-
inr paragraph caught his eye-"Perhaps it
would be well il you came here yourself.
Roscommon is here; and they say there is
niece of Garcia's, lately appeared, who Is
likely to get up strong social sympathy for
the old Mexican. don't know that they expect
to prove anything by her; but I'm told she y
attractive and clever. and has enlisted the
svmpathies of the delegation" Thatcher laid
the letter down little Indignantly. STRONG
men are quite as liable as weak women arc
to sudden inconsistencies on any question they
NAV have in common. What right had this
noor little bud he had cherished-he was quite
satisfied now that he had cherished her, and
really had suffered from her absence-what
right had she to suddenly blossom in the sun
shine of power to be, perhaps, plucked and
worn BY one of his enemies He did not agree
with his lawyer that she was in any way con-
nected with his enemies; he trusted to her
masculine loyalty that far. But here was
somsthing vaguely dangerous to the feminine
mind-position, hattery, power. He was al
most as firmly satisHed now that he had been
vrcnred and neglected. as he had been POSI-
Nvs = few moments before that he had been
ramiss in his attention. The irritation, al
Though momsntary, was enough to decide this
mronr man. He telegraphed to San Fran
cisco; and, having missed the s5eameF, 81
cured an overland passage to washington;
thought better Of it, and partly changed ms
mind an hour after the ticket was purchased;
but ,nanlike. once having made practical
sten In = wrong direction, be kept on rather
than admit an Inconsistency to himself. Yet
- vas not entirely satisfied that his journey
was 4 businsss one. The impuldve, weak ut
t,e Mistress Carmen bad prudently scored
one against the strong man.
Only q small part Of the present great
4r.uscoutinental railway at this time had
been built, and was but piers at either cad OF
sdesolats and wild expanse as yet unbridged.
tNhen the overland traveller left the rail at
Rsno. he left. as it were, civilization with it;
and until he reached the Nebraska frontier,
the rest Of his road was only the old emigrant
trail Travelled by coaches Of the Overland
company Excepting . part OF "Dsvis Can
vou.n the way was unpictureeque and hae;
and the passage Of the Rocky mountains, far
from suggesting the alleged poetry OF that
region, was only reminder OF those sterile
distances Of level New England Landscape.
The tourney was . dreary monotony that
va, scarcely enlivened by its discomforts,
never amounting to actual accident Or incl
dent, but utterly destructive to all nervous
tissue. Insanity often mpervensd "on the
third day OUT said Hank Monk. driver,
speaking casually but charitably Of flare"
son the third day out, after axing no END
Of questions and getting no answers, hs TOOK
to chewing straws that he picked outer
the cushion, and kussin' to hisself. From
that very day knew It was all over with
him. and handed him over to his friends ct
shy Ann,' strapped to the back seat, and
rayin, and cussin, at Ben Holiday, the gen.
tlemanly proprietor" It Is presumed that
the unfortunate tourists indignation was ex-
cited at the late Mr.. benjamin Holiday, then
the proprietor Of the line-an evidence OF his
insanity that no ons who knew that large
hearted, fastidious end elegantly cultured
Californian, since allied to foreign nobility,
will for moment doubt
Mr.. Royal Thatcher was too old a0d expe-
rienced mountaineer to do aught but accept
patiently and cynically his brother Califor-
mans method Of increasing his profits. As It
was generally understood that any one who
came from California by that route had some
dark design, the victim received little SYM
pathy. Thatcher's equable temperament and
indomitable win stood him In good stead, and
helped him cheerfully in this emergency. He
ate his scant meals, and otherwise took care Of
the functions Of his weak human nature, when
and where he could, without grumbling, and
ct times earned even the praise Of his driver
by his ability to trough IT," Which trough
ing IT," by the way, meant the ability Of the
paasngsrs to accept the incompetency Of the
company. Il b true thsrs were times when he
regretted that hs had not taken ths steamer;
but then he reelected that hs was one Of .
vigilance committee, sworn to hang that ad-
mirable man, the late Commodore Cornelius
Vanderbilt, for certain practices and crueltiss
done upon the bodies Of certain Storage pas-
ssugers by his lime, and for divers irrsgulari-
tiss in their transportation. Imention this
fact msrely to show how 70 practical and
stout voyagsr = Thatcher might hsvs con-
founded the psrplexities attending the admin
istration Of great stsamship company with
sslAsh greed and brutality; and that b, with
Other CaIifornians. may not have known tho
fact, dnos rscorded by ths commodore's fam
lily Clergyman, that the great millionaire was
always true to the hymns Of his childhood.
Nevertheless, Thatcher found time to b
cheerful and helpful to his fellow passengers,
and even to b. 20 far interesting to @Yuba
Bm," IL drive, asto have ths box ssatplacsd
at hi disposal ~But," !" said Thatcher n some
concern, "ths box ssat was purchased BY that
other gentlsman IN Hacrihsnt& Hspaid a.
trs for II, and his namss ON your way billr
THAT" said Yuba Bnl. scsrnfully, sdoniD
fetch me, sven sf b chartrsd ~ whole she-
bang. Look yar, Do you reckon I'm goin to
spils my tsmpsr BY sstting naxt to man
with . game eysi And such an sysi c.